"And this is where we keep the ponygirls." I looked round the building we had just entered.

"Very impressive. Room for what, twenty girls? Purpose built I assume?"

"Twenty two if all the stalls are filled although we've only fourteen at the moment. And yes, it was purpose built although the builders didn't know quite what it was for! In fact the foreman said he thought the stalls were a bit narrow for horses, and weren't the mangers a bit low? I said we were breeding very small ponies. Nearly true, I just missed out the word 'from'."

"So you have eleven stalls on either side with a good wide aisle in between. The stalls slope slightly towards the aisle I see. I'm impressed; but don't you need a gulley at the edge of the stalls?

"No, not really. Women don't produce as much liquid waste as horses, the straw soaks it up. We use the deep litter method here: clear away anything noticeable and throw more straw in each day. Then we muck out properly once a week. Incidentally, all the ponygirls have their bladder and rectal nerves cut so they have no control over when they go. Also, the feed pellets have additives that make their stools very loose and make the smell more cattle-like. If we didn't do that, they would try to always use the same part of the stall and it would get horrible. They do have to lie in it, but that's all right because the girls are washed down every day. As you've seen, they are always plugged when they are outside."

"Ah! There's the girl you let me drive this afternoon."

"Katrina. Yes she's a nice pony isn't she? Been with us about eight years now, must be about twenty nine if I remember correctly. Very docile but quite strong. Next time you come we'll try you out with a more lively one." We walked on past the next stall.

"And here's 'Marina'. She's our latest acquisition."

"Isn't she a lovely girl? I'm surprised you don't have her in with the playgirls."

"Indeed. But she's not a volunteer, unfortunately, so ponygirl it had to be."

"Snatched?"

"No. It's a funny tale. An old friend knew her. She was in some trouble with the police, drugs or some such. She went to him about a month ago, asking if he could help her 'disappear' for a while. So he said I probably would help, providing she could get to this place without being seen. She got the bus to our local train station, bought a ticket to London but then sneaked off the platform and walked across the fields to the back entrance. I said that yes, of course I'd hide her but I'd have to dress her as a ponygirl. She agreed. And of course once she had her wrists fixed behind her back and was wearing her bridle and bit it was too late to complain! We operated on her the next day and she's been here ever since. Barrett's just about finished breaking her. She'll do well."

"So she did 'disappear' after all."

"Exactly. But I don't think it was quite what she had in mind."